Gold continues being pressured by a rallying U.S. dollar index on Monday but holding key level at $1200.00. Gold last reported p.m. is $1200.30 and silver is $16.36.

Financial Times is reporting that Greece is preparing for a possible default in April if it doesn’t receive much needed stimulus from the EU and International Monetary Fund.

The government is rapidly running out of funds to pay public sector salaries and state pensions and is making the decision to withhold EUR 2.5 billion due to the IMF in May and June if no agreement is struck. One government official is reported as saying, “we have come to the end of the road and if the Europeans won’t release bailout cash, there is no alternative to a default. A Greek default would would represent an unprecedented shock to Europe’s 16 year old monetary union.

Germany and other EU members say they are confident that the currency area is strong enough to ride out a Greek default while acknowledging it would be a plunge into the unknown. In the short term. a default would almost lead to the suspension emergency ECB liquidity assistance to the Greek financial sector, the closure of Greek banks, capital controls and wider economic instability.

Greece is faced with two options, either pay debt owed to the EU and ECB or default and exit the EU for a new relationship with Russia. Putin may be in the perfect situation to buy Greece’s NATO vote in attempt to create more instability for EU member nations. One way or the other it looks as if Greece will be under new foreign management in the not too distant future. Expect market turmoil to follow the breakup immediately.

Washington like every other nation, somehow thinks it’s immune to common math principles as the Congressional Budget Office reports the government taxed away more money, spent more money and ran a bigger deficit in the first fiscal half of 2015 than it did in the first half of fiscal 2014.

The new report shows Washington ran a budget deficit of $430 billion for the first half of fiscal year 2015, 17 billion more than the shortfall recorded in the same span last year.

The CBO claims Medicaid, expanded by Obamacare was a major driving force in increased federal spending. Outlays for Medicaid rose by 31 billion largely because of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that led to increased enrollment in Medicaid.

If all else fails, just keep spending money like you have it. Greece’s debt can is meeting the end of the road just a little sooner than the rest of us.

We have the choice of staying in bloated stock markets waiting for inevitable corrections or placing a percentage of our assets in something of real value, gold and silver. Owning real physical precious metals trumps paper IOU’s every day of the week.

Call Gold Goliath to find out how simple it is to own gold and silver in your IRA. 1-800-577-3195